The Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system provides IP customers a safe, simple, and secure way to retrieve and download information regarding patent application status. There are two PAIR applications, Public PAIR and Private PAIR. Public PAIR provides access to issued patents and published applications. Private PAIR provides secure real-time access to pending application status and history using digital certificates.

In order to access Private PAIR, you must:

be a registered patent attorney/agent, an Independent Inventor, or a person granted limited recognition,

have a customer number,

have a digital PKI certificate to secure the transmission of the application to the USPTO